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C/1951 P1

C/1951 P1 (Wilson-Harrington)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 27265 days ago at mag 41.7. Historic peak was mag 11.2. Typical backyard telescopes will not show it. HST, JWST, or an 8–10 m class telescope might recover it with a good ephemeris.

Active comet in COBS

JSONCSV

Right ascension

—

J2000

Declination

—

J2000

Estimated magnitude

41.7

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

50

Arc unknown

Last observation

27265d ago

Fri, 14 Mar 1952 19:12:00 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1951-11-21

0.740 au

Peak window

1951-11-18 → 1951-11-24

COBS peak mag 11.2 on 1951-11-21 · perihelion 1951-11-21. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

11.2

COBS / analyzed peak 1951-11-21

Catalog ingest

13h ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-11-06 14:20:21 UTC

Light curve

Brightness over time (V mag)

Gold = reported observations. Steel dashed family = ensemble (nominal / outburst / fade / disruption).

Tail length

Converted to degrees from COBS (d / arcmin / arcsec). Empty until analysis has pulled the archive.

Ensemble is a first-pass H0/n photometric model plus observed samples — not a trained ML forecast yet. The background analyzer walks the catalog one object at a time so COBS is not flooded. Disruption track rises after perihelion to stand in for solar-wind stripping.

Orbital elements

q

0.740 au

e

1.0000

i

152.00°

Ω

75.20°

ω

268.00°

a

—

MOID

—

H

—

H0 / n

—

NEO score

—

PHA score

—

RMS

—

Elongation

—

Reporting sources

  • COBS comet list

    ok

    Comet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).

Name history

  • C/1951 P1 (Wilson-Harrington)

    Informal: Wilson-Harrington

    C/1951 P1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

Contributors

  • Albert F. Jones

    Visual Observer · JON · 24 reports · last 27285d ago

  • D. A. Philpott

    Visual Observer · PHI · 11 reports · last 27294d ago

  • Max Beyer

    Visual Observer · BEY · 6 reports · last 27265d ago

  • W. H. Steavenson

    Visual Observer · STE06 · 3 reports · last 27287d ago

  • D. J. Fulcher

    Visual Observer · FUL01 · 2 reports · last 27282d ago

  • G. Merton

    Visual Observer · MER02 · 2 reports · last 27274d ago

  • G. R. Nankivell

    Visual Observer · NAN · 2 reports · last 27311d ago

  • W. A. Granger

    Visual Observer · GRA · 2 reports · last 27287d ago

  • W. T. Gayfer

    Visual Observer · GAY · 2 reports · last 27286d ago

  • E. H. Collinson

    Visual Observer · COL01 · 1 reports · last 27290d ago

  • G. E. Stone

    Visual Observer · STO01 · 1 reports · last 27296d ago

  • G. F. Kellaway

    Visual Observer · KEL · 1 reports · last 27281d ago

  • G.E.D. Alcock

    Visual Observer · ALC · 1 reports · last 27287d ago

Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.